Lab

CURRENT LAB MEMBERS

Daniel Krupp completed his PhD in 2007 in Psychology, Neuroscience, & Behaviour at McMaster University with Drs. Martin Daly and Margo Wilson. He won the New Investigator Award from the Human Behavior & Evolution Society in 2005, and held postdoctoral fellowships in psychology and mathematics before leading the Program in Evolution of Governance at One Earth Future, a non-governmental organization whose mission is to catalyze systems to eliminate root causes of war. Dr. Krupp does research on the evolution of cooperation and conflict, especially kinship, inequality and the structure of competition, social exchange, violence, and reproductive decision-making. We are very happy to have him join us in Guelph.

Jillian O’Connoris a SSHRC-funded postdoctoral researcher. She finished her PhD at McMaster University in 2013 with David Feinberg. She is interested in how voices and faces influence our social world, particularly in the realm of mating. Her three main research areas are (1) the influence of vocal and facial traits on social perceptions and behaviour, (2) individual differences in the resolution of mate choice trade-offs, and (3) the integration of multiple cues to mate quality. Currently, her research focus is on the relationship between voice and trustworthiness across social contexts. For more information, visit jillianoconnor.com

Amanda Rotella completed her Master’s degree with Pat Barclay at the University of Guelph and is now doing a SSHRC-funded PhD here. Her Master’s research uses costly signalling theory to understand when people trust, or are skeptical of, displays of generosity, and her PhD research is on individual differences in trust, trustworthiness, and social perceptions. Other research interests include individual differences in cooperative decision making, invalid cues of observation, moral licensing, and cooperative and romantic partner choice.

FORMER LAB MEMBERS

Sandeep Mishra did two years of postdoctoral work with Pat Barclay in 2011-2012 before starting a faculty position. He is currently the Viterra Faculty Fellow at the University of Regina in the Faculty of Business Administration and Department of Psychology. He studies judgement and decision-making, especially risk-taking, personality and individual differences, health and well-being, and evolutionary theory. He is also a drumming ninja.

Adam Sparksfinished his PhD with Pat Barclay in May 2015. His dissertation on reputation and cooperation won the 2016 John Vanderkamp Doctoral Graduate Medal for the top graduate PhD student in the College of Social and Applied Human Science. Adam did four months of postdoctoral work here, and is currently doing a 5-year postdoc with Daniel Fessler in the Department of Anthropology at UCLA.. He studies the functions, mechanisms, and development of human cooperation. Specific topics of interest include “the watching eyes effect,” moral condemnation, social status, and risk taking. His 2013 paper on the watching eyes effect (from his PhD thesis) is one of the most cited articles in Evolution & Human Behavior since 2011.

Sara Kafashan finished her PhD with Pat Barclay in January 2017, and yes she really does look like that. Her PhD dissertation applied biological markets theory to human friendships. She conducted research on differential treatment friends versus kin and strangers, and how friendships are affected by the ease of trading to new partners. She is currently working at the Centre for Community-Based Research in Kitchener, Ontario.

Amanda Sarcevich finished her BSc with a major in Psychology: Brain and Cognition at the University of Guelph. She volunteered in the Barclay Lab in 2014 worked as a Research Assistant for 2015-2016, with an interest in social exchange, emotion/relationships, anxiety, and depression from an evolutionary standpoint and how this knowledge can be used to offer insight into why we think and behave the way we do. She is currently an intake counsellour at Homewood Health Centre.